Some Worldly Wisdom

The ubiquitous Deepak Gopi has written to us with some wisdom about his home country India that he'd like us to share with our international friends...

Come with a good mosquito repellent,other wise mosquitos will have a heavy dinner.
Carry plenty of water from your land because most of the mineral water brands here are unhygeneic.
Dont drink Coke or Pepsi from India, because Indian made soft drinks are injurious to health.
Dont come with any valuable goods,chances of being stolen are vey high.
Never come here to become desciples of Godmen and saints because 95%of them are fakes.
Have enough patience while travelling because traffic jams,road blocks and accidents could happen at any time.
Never come here to learn traditional arts through crash courses,because these arts require years of practice and persistence to master a bit.
Still I love my India and I am proud of it.

He assures me that he's going to become an ambassador soon, so we can all share in India's goodies.

California/England Swap Success

Swap Details:
Swapper1: Babs California, USA
Swapper2: Bea England, UK

English stuff makes it to California
I was feeling positively regal receiving a package via "Royal Mail" and getting the official Fortnam & Mason's ("by appointment to HRH") tea & biscuits.
Also in the package were postcards, magazines, books, pamphlets, little souvineers, the Union Jack, and Crunchie Bars!!! I was brushing up on my cockney slang just this morning. ("Not a bad Dickory Dock! It's quite a Gordon & Gotch!")
I love everything about this package...I've never been to the UK and now I want to go even more!!
THANK YOU Bea for this lovely package! I hope she enjoyed my package just as much. (I know the peanut butter chips are going to good use!)
Babs

We wish we all could be California girls
My first swap parcel has arrived [in England]! Miss Pocket and I investigated:
1. Fabric and trim for dolly dress making from Jo-Ann’s
2. Mr Clean Magic Erasers - used by the dolly community for getting marks off plastic dolls. No more dirty girls in our house!
3. Postcard of San Francisco
4. Powdered Buttermilk - an ingredient I just can’t find here in London for my US recipes
5. Reeses Peanut Butter Chips - more baking goodies
6. Heath Bar Chocolate Toffee Bits - yet more calorific baking supplies
I shall have to get cupcake making immediately…
Thank you Babs!
Bea

Tags: Gimme Your Stuff

Australia/New Mexico Swaptastic

Swap Details:
Swapper1: Kwoozy Victoria, Australia
Swapper2: JenBen New Mexico, USA

New Mexico markers hit Victoria
Just in time to cheer me up! The Sharpies are part of this lovely package from JenBen via Gimme Your Stuff. Also in the package was a pack of Shrink Film which I have been coveting for a long time. And some fabrics, of course. Thank you very much Jen!
Kwoozy

Aussie junkfood gets to New Mexico
The first morning I was in Tahiti I was looking for a snackie-type thing in the hotel gift shop and I came across a Cadbury Hazelnut Brunch Bar. I was a little skeptical but I thought, what the hell. I'm hungry and maybe a Brunch Bar has some sort of nutritional value. Damn that thing was tasty! The rest of the time I was in Tahiti I looked for the bars but I never found them again! Well, I did find ones with raisins (ewwwww!) but not the hazelnut ones. When I got home to the US, I still couldn't find the Cadbury Brunch Bars, either in the US or in Europe. They're REALLY hard to find! When I heard of Gimme Your Stuff, I thought, Aha! Here's a way to find those pesky, addicting bars! And lo and behold, Kwoozy in Australia made my dreams come true! She sent me 6 regular sized bars as well as 6 minis! And then she threw in all sorts of other candy too! I'm not sure about the prune candy, but the rest looks delicious! Also, she took the time to scour fabric stores near her to come up with the fabric the candy is on. It's hard to tell but it's blues and pinks with dragonflies which will be perfect for a baby quilt! Yay! :)
JenBen

Tags: Trade, GimmeYourStuff, Swap

HELP YOUR GIMME WEBMASTERS!!

Have we mentioned how much we like all you guys? Our members? Our faithful readers? People who've just come here by mistake? Did we mention how you're all looking really good today?
Anyway... you may have heard of Threadless, the insanely cool online tshirt design competition. Thom and I (your best friend Rikki) have entered a few submissions each but the only way we can win is to get them voted for. If they're winners, they get printed then go on sale, and prizes come our way. All you have to do is sign up - they don't spam you and it's free, you can even forget about them straight after - and vote like this:Don't forget to leave a comment on threadless saying how much you like each design, cause they take comments into consideration too!
Ok time to beg. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go here and vote for Rikki's, and go here to vote for Thom's, we'll love you forever. Even more than we already do. Did we mention you have nice hair?

Japan/California Swap is a bit French

Swap Details:
Swapper1: Anjali Japan, Asia
Swapper2: Laurence California, USA

French stuff from California goes to Japan.
This time I traded with the charming Laurence, who is from France, but is now living in L.A. She went above and beyond for me, and in general was just a lovely person to email and swap with.

She sent me some beautiful vintage fabrics (including a vintage red polka-dot linen from Russia), lace, embroidery floss, red buttons, dishtowels, notecards and French sweets. And doesn't everything look so pretty together? I almost don't want to ruin it by actually using anything...but I will.
Anjali

Japanese Goodies go to California!
Imagine my excitement when Anjali, the Queen of swaps, agreed to do a swap with me...! It was Christmas coming early. Her choice of fabrics was just perfect.. i mean, seriously, do they get any cuter?! So i'm glad to say that those little cute bears and elephants have found a loving home! The Simple Chic book is amazing and the Cotton Friend magazine remains my
favorite magazine! Thank you so much Anjali! I hope you enjoy your goodies as much i enjoy mine :)
Also a big thanks to the Gimme team!
Laurence

Japan/New Jersey Secret Swap Finished

Swap Details:
Swapper1: Sera New Jersey, USA
Swapper2: Anonymous Japan, Asia

Japanese stuff brings out novel writers in New Jersey.
My whole swap was started by my yearnings for Japanese Kitkats, wagashi (traditional Japanese desserts), and other random Japanese food stuffs I couldn't find in the States. I had lived in Japan for a short while and I had developed a taste and a weakness for these
unique foods. Likewise, my friend in Japan was yearning for some *good* dark/bittersweet chocolate, especially since it's such a hard thing to find in Japan (which is ironic, since it's just BOOMING here in the States). When my friend offered to send me a Japanese Kitkat since I missed them so much, I proposed a trade. I felt bad just accepting this goldmine of a treat without giving something back!

We each sent lists and ideas to each other about what sorts of candies/chocolate we'd each like to recieve. It was a lot of fun shopping and deciding what to send. I finished off my package with a hand drawn and painted "thank you" card and promptly sent off the goodies. Our timing was in perfect sync with each other, as we had (unknowingly) mailed our swap packages on the same day. So a very anxious seven days later my box arrived:
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/4817/1swap3swag1lg9.jpg
My heart was racing with excitement upon opening the box. Inside were the most wonderful tasty treasures wrapped in a beautiful furoshiki cloth! I was sent 3 different kinds of Japanese KitKats, including two of the Azuki bean flavor because I am just in *love* with azuki beans
and anko! Among the wagashi included were Kokeshi Doll cookies, different kinds of Yokan (anko bean paste jelly), Monaka (wafer sandwich with anko inside), green tea, and last but not least, Konnyaku Fruit Strips! I used to LIVE off these things when I was in Japan! I've missed them so!
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/9720/1swap3kitkat1ym8.jpg
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/567/1swap3nanidesukaki8.jpg
To say my friend sent me good stuff is quite the understatment, no? A word of caution though, chocolate doesn't ship too well in hot weather! Oops! It was still yummy though! :D Candy from the other side of the world is nothing short of a magical commodity. It's great that a place like this site exists, so that everyone can experience such magic!
Sera

Secretive Japanese society receives New Jersey offering.
For some unknown and I'm sure highly cool CIA-style reason, this person cannot comment or allow his/her identity to be known. Cool!

FLY FOR A CHAI GUY

Large lavishing ladles of luxurious lovely Masala Chai. Sweet hot and heavy. When I travelled through India, It was the only thing that would wash the weight of pollution out of my system. I grew to Adore REAL Indian chai, and rely on it for the life giving joy it inspired in me. Now I’m back in Australia, I have run out of the supply I brought back with me, and you just can’t buy the REAL stuff. I need some!!! I so desperately want some!

This is an outcry to any readers of this page in India. I NEED MORE MASALA CHAI…

Help me India! If anyone wishes to swap real Indian chai (from India) I’m sure I could offer you something wonderfully Australian in return. Leave a comment. Lets make me sane again.

Tags: India, Food, Swap, Trade, GimmeYourStuff

England/Illinois Trade Ahoy!

Swap Details:
Swapper1: Sarah Illinois, USA
Swapper2: Gillian England, UK

English Goodies go to Illinois.
Thanks to Miss Gillian for her spectacular package!! It was bloody awesome! Filled to the brim with UK chocolate (Cadbury bars galore - including an Egg-creme filled one - I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE CADBURY CREAM EGGS - malt balls, Aero bars (yum!), a Bounty bar that didn't even make it onto the table (it went straight in my mouth baby!!), a melt-in-your-mouth flake bar, a scrumdileumptios Green and Black bar, some strawberry licorice, a great British tabloid (I didn't know HALF of the people in the thing - but it was awesome non the less) and the best thing in the whole box - Gillian's home made strawberry jam.
I hope that you enjoy the candy I sent as much as I enjoyed yours!!!!
Thank you so much!
Sarah

USA goodies keep kids and mums busy for a few minutes.
Here is the Junior Smellie Gang furiously working their way through the goodies from Chicago, I would like to say that they managed to make them last for a week or so......... but sadly that would be lying. Mum and Dad did get a look in, but only by showing brute force and taking control of the box. The gossip mags got Mum into trouble as the packing for the holiday
got seriously behind as she locked herself in the bathroom with a hot bubble bath and a pile of reading .... no piccies of that one !!
Gillian

New Feature for Gimme-ites.

If you'll look to your collective lefts, you shall notice a new feature, the official Gimme Your News Email List.
If you're one of those who are into Gimme Swapping but can't commit to the Ambassador list just yet, chuck your email into the thingie and send it off to us to receive our news emails (the ones that our Ambassadors already receive). You'll learn about the best stuff up for swap, general things that are going on in Gimme Land, and a lot of ranting about how we hate photos of piles of groceries.
As always, we'll be sure to sell your email addresses to big conglomerates who'll send you spam until you die.
I mean we won't.
Damn, always get those two confused.

New York/Japan Swap Complete with horse.

Swap Details:
Swapper1: Emily Hokkaido, Japan
Swapper2: Kristi New York, USA

Person in Japan tries to feed NY lip balm to horse.
I live in the home of Japanese Horse Racing, Iwamizawa, so this is a picture of the American lip balm that Kristi sent me, which I love. I have it in my pocket at all times now, so when I was waiting to get a train I took the picture. Yes the horse is on the platform!
I was really happy with my swap. More here.

Thankyou, Emily

New York gets Japanese treats.
An amazing package of goodness from the lovely Emily in Japan came today. Check it out, so many goodies! Craft magazines, stickers, socks, candies and treats...and some very cool blank puzzles that you can fill in, break up and mail to your friends to put back together. Thank you again, Emily. Everything is wonderful.
Kristi

Japan/California Trade Complete!

Swap Details:
Swapper1: Anjali Japan, Asia
Swapper2: Kelly California, USA

More Californian Treats in Japan!
Kelly and I decided to have a swap of candy and cute buttons and trims. I'm especially in love with that little ice cream guy and the hedgehog buttons. I'm tempted to bring the Pop Rocks to school and feed them to my students, but I'm afraid their faces might fall off. Strange, super-sweet American candy exploding in their mouths can only lead to lots of girly screaming, but...I'm still tempted.
UPDATE: Here's a picture of two of my students attacking the pack of Pop Rocks Kelly sent me. They later ate them. Their faces did not fall off. A bit disappointing.
Anjali

More Japanese Treats in California!
My package arrived early this week, crammed with fun, kawaii goodies she picked out especially for me! Here's a picture of (some of) the loot (I just can't seem to find the sweet treats anywhere... I wonder where they've gotten to?!?):

I love how all the trims are packaged onto a little piece of cardboard and tied with string... reminds me of all the careful yet casual styling in so many of my Japanese craft books. Anjali did an amazing job of picking for me - plenty of cute and fun to last me quite a while! Did you notice the "I am sitting" and "I am drinking" trims? Too much!

Anyway, the swap was a total success at my end, and I hope Anjali enjoys the goodies I sent her way just as well. Now I'm wondering if I should stalk someone else for another round...

Kelly

Chicago/Melbourne Swap Finito!

Swap Details:
Swapper1: Richard Chicago, USA
Swapper2: Esta Melbourne, Australia

Aussie Suga Lollies head to Chicago.
I received Suga, the best hard candies "lollies" ever! The candies, or lollies as they call them, are all handmade in the tradition of the famous millefiori glass makers of Venice. Want to know the flavor, look closely at the candy and you will see the flavor right there in the candy itself! Using different colors of sugar they roll the candy creating the image inside. Then they extrude the candies into long glass like rods and snap them into the bite size pieces!
Richard Zeid

Chicago good times reach Aussie kids.
The kids and I were thrilled when the package arrived. We couldn't wait to open it and when we did we found all sorts of sweet, sour, hard and soft sweets.

It was easy to swap and the results were great. Richard was a great communicator and a pleasure to swap with. I would swap with him again anytime.

Thanks, Esta